There was no shocker in the Division II semifinals today. In a rematch of last year’s final, Pelham and Rye will meet again tomorrow at West Point. Pelham beat Ossining 3-1 and Rye beat Brewster 9-0.

Marc Flory scored twice — tying him with Johnny Marshall, who had 50 goals in the ‘87-’88 season, for most goals in a season — and Adrian Rivera scored his third goal of the season to break a 1-1 tie with 1:46 left in the second period. Gavin Lambdin, a game-time decision because of a stomach flu, made 19 saves.

Joseph Giordano scored with 5:07 left in the first period to give Ossining a 1-0 lead, and Joe Riley made 15 saves.

Earlier today, Paul Mundinger had three goals and two assists, Taka Katsuta and Ellis Beber scored twice and Matt Benincasa made 19 saves for the Garnets.

So here’s tomorrow’s tentative schedule:

Division I: No. 1 Mamaroneck vs. No. 3 White Plains, 4 p.m.

Division II: No. 1 Rye vs. No. 2 Pelham, 6:30 p.m.

I say tentative because there’s supposed to be a snowstorm coming in tomorrow night. I spoke with chairman John Orlando at the Pelham game, and he laid out a number of contingency plans. Section 1 has ice booked at Hommocks and Playland Tuesday night at 8 in case games can’t be played at West Point, though it’s also possible that the games will still be played at Tate, just later in the week (possibly Tuesday or Wednesday). 

It’s also possible, if only one school decides to cancel (and it’s up to the schools, not Orlando), that one game will be played Sunday and the other game will be played Tuesday.

In any case, I will post all weather-related updates here as soon as I get them, so stay tuned. Right now our plan is still to broadcast both games over the internet tomorrow in case anyone can’t make it, and I plan on posting the previews early tomorrow morning.

Just like in Division I, this round is where the No. 1 seed really comes in handy. I see Rye handling Brewster, but Ossining giving Pelham all kinds of problems. What do you think?

No. 1 Rye (13-10) vs. No. 4 Brewster (10-12-2), 11:45 a.m. at Playland: Brewster is 6-4-1 after a tough start, which includes some nice wins over League 2 competition, and is now in the semifinals for the first time in seven years. But they haven’t faced a team like Rye yet. Brewster’s wins this year were RTH, Carmel, Mt. P, Yorktown (twice), ETB, and Scarsdale (twice). What do they all have in common? None of them won a playoff game. Brewster gets its third-leading scorer back from suspension to complement the high-powered duo of Mike Miller and Ian Fleming, and I think that’ll be enough to get something past goalie Matt Benincasa. But Brewster gave up a lot of odd-man rushes against Yorktown, and that will prove fatal against the Garnets. Rye gets scoring from all three lines and gets within one game of a third straight title. Rye 4-1.

No. 2 Pelham (15-10) vs. No. 6 Ossining (20-2-2), 5 p.m. at Ice Hutch: Ossining hasn’t given up more than three goals all year — not to Mamaroneck, Sleepy Hollow/Irvington, Somers/North Salem, Pawling, New Rochelle, etc.. Pelham has scored 27 goals in its last four games, which includes five each against DI semifinalists Mahopac and White Plains. Within this great offense-defense matchup is an individual battle between Marc Flory, who continued his unbelievable run with a season-high five goals against Somers/North Salem (he now has six straight multi-goal games), and Scott Miele, one of the section’s top defensemen who shut down Joe Marasco when I saw the team play Somers/North Salem at WSA. I think Ossining’s close loss to Mamaroneck should give them confidence, and they are riding high after reaching the semifinals for the first time in seven years, but the Pelham seniors are on a mission to get back to Glens Falls and Ossining isn’t stopping them. Pelham 3-2.

White Plains will be going for its first sectional championship in 30 years on Sunday, thanks to nine unanswered goals against two of the top 5 teams in the state. The Tigers shut out Suffern for the second straight time, winning 3-0 at Sport-O, after scoring six straight to beat Clarkstown North 6-4 on Wednesday.

Mike Pavarini was the star of the game, making 35 saves (22 in the third period), but of course it was a team effort. The first line of Aaron Klimchuk, Dan Broderick and Steve McCarrick created both goals (defenseman Ryan McGee added an empty netter), the second line kept up the pressure and the defense of McGee, Harrison McCandless and Jack Peeples stood strong.

It was White Plains’ first-ever win against Suffern at Sport-O (and just its second win against Suffern in the program’s 40-year history, after a 4-0 win at Ebersole three weeks ago). The Tigers forechecked hard, got the puck deep, made smart passes, cycled the puck, and got in front of the net. Plus their goalie stood on his head.

My story has reaction from Pavarini, McCandless and coach Howie Rubenstein. It also has some facts about Klimchuk, who scored the winner with three minutes left in the second period — he missed the quarterfinal game with food poisoning, he came over from RCDS as a defenseman this year, he was one of three juniors who missed their junior prom last night (along with McGee and Jeremy Lindh), and perhaps most interesting of all, he wore No. 10 last night instead of the usual No. 27 because assistant coach Mark Sanchez, who wore No. 27 for the Tigers, is taking that uniform with him when he ships out to Iraq soon (he’s in the Army Reserves). 

I asked Rubenstein about what’s different this year: “Our defense is a lot better this year, and we play a little different system. We get pucks deep, we’re not relying on our speed to get the puck in all the time. We just want to chip it in and make the other team work.”

Their opponent Sunday at 4 p.m. will be the Tigers from Mamaroneck (fast fact — what’s a group of Tigers called? Click here for the answer.) Mamaroneck scored six straight to beat Mahopac 6-1. Brett Jackson had three goals and two assists, including a goal 12 seconds after Mahopac scored to go up 1-0. Also, senior Sean Hagan (two assists) set the school record for assists by a defenseman (144). Dan Marra was at Hommocks for that one.

Mahopac was still within 3-1 and had a 5-on-3 to start the third period, but the Tigers killed that off. Mamaroneck also scored six unanswered to beat North Rockland 7-2 in the quarterfinals. 

I’ll post a finals preview after the Division II semis tomorrow, but I did want to look back for a second and congratulate Mahopac and Suffern for making it this far. The Indians actually started 4-11 before coming up with some big wins against teams like Pelham and White Plains, and of course they got past a really tough Lakeland/Panas team in overtime to make it back to the sectional semifinals. With only three seniors graduating, the future looks bright for next year. Meanwhile, the Mounties lost five starters off last year’s incredible team — the word “rebuilding” was even thrown around a little bit — but a host of newcomers, led by goalie Paul Gabriel, really took advantage of their opportunities and Suffern was 30 seconds away against Mamaroneck from winning another League 1 title. 

I’ll be back early tomorrow with a look at the Division II semifinal matchups. And the results from the latest poll are in — 81 out of 132 thought the Section 1 finals should be at Tate Rink.

Third-seeded White Plains held on for a 3-0 win over second-seeded Suffern tonight in the Section 1 Division I semifinals at Sport-O-Rama in Monsey.

The Tigers will now play top-seeded Mamaroneck in the final on Sunday at 4 p.m. at West Point.

Mike Pavarini enjoyed a stellar outing in goal for White Plains, making 35 saves. 

The Tigers took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Aaron Klimchuk with three minutes left in the period, assisted by Steve McCarick and Dan Broderick.

Broderick then scored 36 seconds into third period. Ryan McGee added an empty net goal.

I’ve created a new thread for the Section 1 semifinal score updates. Please post them here if you can.

Also, some info from upstate: The Section 10 Division I championship between Potsdam and Massena will be at Clarkson’s Cheel Arena Sunday at 1 p.m. And the Section 2 Division II championship between Queensbury and Glens Falls will be at the Glens Falls Civic Center Saturday at 4 p.m. 

The winners will host the respective Section 1 champions next Saturday.

While there’s some new blood in Division II with Ossining and Brewster, the same four teams are back in the Division I semifinals. Last season Mamaroneck beat White Plains 4-3 and Suffern beat Mahopac 7-2. This time the matchups are different, though one thing remains the same — considering Mamaroneck and Suffern both swept Mahopac and split with White Plains, the No. 1 seed seems to have an advantage.

No. 1 Mamaroneck (22-2-1) vs. No. 4 Mahopac (10-14-1), 5:30 p.m. at Hommocks: Mamaroneck won the first two meetings 7-2 and 5-0, with Luke Glaser stopping 24 of 25 shots over five periods and eight different players finding the net. Here’s an interesting fact: Mamaroneck has a dozen players with 12 or more points, while Mahopac has three. Plus the Tigers received a mini-scare in their opening game against North Rockland, falling behind 2-1 in the second period, so they should be ready from the opening whistle this time. The Indians should be commended for getting back to the semifinals for the sixth (or is it seventh?) straight year, but they benefitted from an easy bracket this time, playing two League 4 teams, and still needed a goal in the final minute of regulation to take Lakeland/Panas to overtime. Tyler Perrelle has been an outstanding leader and player for the program, Chris Mastrocola is one of the fastest players in the section and Bobby Fatone has made some big saves, but at the risk of sounding like a broken record, Mamaroneck’s depth will make the difference. I don’t know who will step up, but someone will. Mamaroneck 5, Mahopac 2.

No. 2 Suffern (17-5-2) vs. No. 3 White Plains (14-9-2), 7 p.m. at Sport-O: I’m not going to carried away by White Plains’ 4-0 win three weeks ago at Ebersole. I’ve probably seen Suffern play a dozen times in two seasons, and that was by far the most lethargic performance I’d ever seen from them, while the Tigers were fired up to beat the Mounties for the first time in history. Likewise, I’m not putting too much stock in Suffern’s 3-1 win at Sport-O, since White Plains was missing its entire first forward line (two suspensions and a vacation conflict), and the Tigers rely on tiring out opponents with relentless pressure from multiple scoring lines. While the Tigers have been inconsistent at times, there’s no denying how good they can be when they’re on —  they are the only team in the state that’s beaten three of the top five teams in the Division I state rankings (Suffern, Mamaroneck and Clarkstown North). Still, I’m taking Suffern. I see a tight, low-scoring game, and I trust the Mounties more to maintain their composure and not take an unnecessary risk or a silly penalty. White Plains has had an unbelievable season and I’ve been wrong to pick against them in the past (see: Wednesday), but I think Paul Gabriel makes some huge saves and someone outside Suffern’s first line comes through with the winner. Suffern 3-2.

The Division II semifinals will have two perennial powers and two teams that haven’t been there in seven years. The previous posts had a some information on Pelham and Brewster (and there is more from Brewster-Yorktown in my article, including details on Ian Fleming’s winning strategy and Brewster’s role players stepping up). In the two other semifinals, Rye defeated Pawling 7-1 and Ossining beat John Jay 4-0. So I was right with the winners (improving my record to 13-2 in the playoffs) but way off on all the scores.

Seven different players scored for Rye, who outshot Pawling 37-15. And four different players scored for Ossining, who scored twice in the first period and twice in the third (including an empty-netter) and outshot the Indians 27-18.

So here’s the semifinal schedule Saturday:

No. 1 Rye vs. No. 4 Brewster, 11:45 a.m. at Playland

No. 2 Pelham vs. No. 6 Ossining, 5 p.m. at Ice Hutch

The Rye game had to be moved up because of the Manhattanville-Hobart men’s ECAC West tournament game.

I’ll be back before lunch with predictions on Friday’s games, but feel free to start without me.

Marc Flory (five goals and two assists) scored his 100th varsity goal for the second-seeded Pelham Pelicans tonight in a 7-4 win over seventh-seeded Somers/North Salem 4 in a Division II quarterfinal at the Ice Hutch.

Flory is now the third-leading scorer in school history behind C.J. Fredericks (113) and Tom D’Agostino (103). Mike Mamone had two goals and three assists.

Joe Marasco, the leading all-team scorer in Somers/North Salem program history who was playing the final game of his five-year varsity career, had a hat trick and an assist.

Ian Fleming scored twice in the third period as Brewster defeated Yorktown 4-3 in a Division II quarterfinal at Brewster Ice Arena.

The fourth-seeded Bears advance to the semifinals for the first time in seven years, where they will face the winner of tonight’s Rye-Pawling game.

Fleming scored with 8:00 minutes left to break a 2-2 tie, and then again with 1:20 left to make it 4-2. Michael Bonitatibus brought No. 5 Yorktown within 4-3 with 55 seconds to play with a power-play goal.

Yorktown had defeated Brewster in double overtime in last year’s quarterfinals.

Section 1 chairman John Orlando has sent out some more information about Tate Rink, the site of Sunday’s Division I and Division II championship games:

West Point is one of the most beautiful colleges in the country. Tate Rink is the finest rink on the East Coast. Take advantage of this event by coming early and touring the Military Academy. It is a history lesson in itself and in these troubled times one can reflect about all the great men and women who have graduated from West Point who are keeping our country free and safe.

You will need a picture ID to gain access to the grounds (16 and over). A highly trained security staff will allow you to pass rather quickly and a more than 15 minute wait will be highly unusual. 

If you are traveling north on Route 9W there are two gates you can use:

Thayer Gate: Take the right exit after the car wash and proceed through the Village of Highland Falls to the gate. If you want to go to the museum it is before the gate.

Stony Lonesome Gate: Proceed past the first exit off 9W, go up the hill and take the next exit. This gate gives you direct access to the rink, which is right next to the football stadium.

The six top Division II teams finally get a chance to play in the postseason. Will the seedings hold like in Division I? Here’s a glimpse at the matchups:

No. 1 Rye vs. No. 8 Pawling, 8 p.m. at Playland: Pawling has won 5 of 6 and actually has some nice players behind Matt Burdick, so I doubt it will get worn out by playing against a deep team like Rye. It also pulled the upset in this round against Pelham two years ago. But Rye is also playing extremely well, and the two-time defending champions have too many talented, disciplined players to lose this early. Rye 3-1.

No. 2 Pelham vs. No. 7 Somers/North Salem, 7 p.m. at Ice Hutch: Somers/North Salem has shown it can beat a League 1 team in its win over Mahopac, but Pelham is 4-4 against the Division I semifinalists, with wins over Mahopac, White Plains and Suffern. Joe Marasco can be a dominant player, but no player has been as dominant as Marc Flory recently — in a 10-game span against the best competition (League 1, Clarkstown North and Massena), he has accounted for 20 of Pelham’s 31 goals. In other words, I like Somers/North Salem, but Pelham is a little better in every category. Pelham 5-2.

No. 3 John Jay vs. No. 6 Ossining, 8:45 p.m. at Brewster: It was only two years ago that Ossining won the League 3 title, and then gave eventual champ Rye its toughest game of the playoffs in the quarters before losing 3-2. Ossining (19-2-2) has a much more favorable matchup this time, but John Jay’s 4-19-2 record is deceiving — a lot of losses have come against teams like Suffern and Mamaroneck and White Plains. The Indians are a respectable 3-4 against Division II opponents, getting swept by Rye and Pelham but beating Brewster (twice) and Yorktown, and I’m sure their relishing the clean slate that the playoffs provide. I like Ossining a little more in all three phases, but I think it will be closer than the records indicate. Ossining 4-3.

No. 4 Brewster vs. No. 5 Yorktown, 6:45 p.m. at Brewster: Yorktown won this game in double OT last year, but the ‘Huskers had won 9 of 11 before that, while this year’s team has lost six in a row and barely made it into the playoffs thanks to some smart non-league scheduling (hello, Nyack tournament). Meanwhile, Brewster posted some impressive wins recently (Scarsdale twice, ETB) and has a dynamic duo in Mike Miller (62 points) and Ian Fleming (53). This is the only game that will be a rematch from the regular season — the teams tied 2-2 in overtime and then Brewster won 7-2. I’ll take something in between. Brewster 6-3.

There was an incredible comeback and an improbable finish in an amazing doubleheader at Brewster Ice Arena on Wednesday. FIrst, White Plains fell behind 4-0 midway through the second period, and then scored six unanswered goals to beat Clarkstown North 6-4.

And then Lakeland/Panas scored three times in the third period to take a 5-4 lead, gave up the tying goal with 27 seconds left, and then lost in overtime when a defenseman, attempting to send the puck behind the net, instead seemed to panic and fired it at the net and right to the most dangerous (and probably most motivated) player on the ice, Mahopac’s Tyler Perrelle. Perrelle, who was bloodied early on and then sat in the penalty box for 11 1/2 minutes while Lakeland/Panas mounted its comeback, finished the game 6:48 into overtime.

White Plains has now beaten three of the top 5 Division I teams in the state (Suffern, Mamaroneck and Clarkstown North). They’ve also played some clunkers, but clearly when they’re on they can beat anyone. The difference Wednesday night was depth. While Clarkstown North received all its scoring from three players, two of which (Matt Willows and Jake Shuman) basically played the entire third period, White Plains had all five of its regular forwards from the top two lines score (the sixth was sick and didn’t play), plus defenseman Ryan McGee, and really tired North out by the end.

You can read more about last night’s game, plus a great coaching maneuver by Howie Rubenstein after the team lost to Pelham and knew it was going to be matched up with North, by clicking on my article.

In the nightcap was special for a different reason — two teams going back and forth in front of a really electric crowd. I hadn’t seen Lakeland/Panas play this season, but the young Rebels, led by defensemen Kyle Park and Robert Belger and forwards Robert Cafferey and Nicky Belger, were outstanding. It’s unfortunate the game had to end on a mistake, but that’s overtime hockey in the playoffs. Not that we needed the reminder, but throw out the top few and bottom few teams, and not much separates the other 25. And still Mahopac seems to make it back to the sectional semifinals every year.

Mahopac will meet Mamaroneck, who also scored six unanswered goals to overcome a second-period deficit and beat North Rockland 7-2. Talk about balance — seven different players scored and 12 recorded points for the Tigers, who outshot the Red Raiders 54-20.

The only team that didn’t struggle was Suffern, who beat New Rochelle 7-1. The top line of Zac Hiller (3-3), Johnny Hill (3-2) and Jake Jaeger (0-5) produced six goals and the shots were 44-15.

So after all that, the top four seeds have advanced in Division I. Here is Friday’s semifinal schedule:

No. 1 Mamaroneck vs. No. 4 Mahopac, 5:30 p.m. at Hommocks

No. 2 Suffern vs. No. 3 White Plains, 7 p.m. at Sport-O

I’ll be back Thursday morning with a look at the Division II quarterfinals, and after stopping at Blazer’s for a burger, I’ll be back at Brewster for another doubleheader, which I can only hope will be half as exciting as Wednesday’s.

Dillon Savitzky scored his second goal of the season with just 27 seconds left in regulation, and teammate Tyler Perrelle, Mahopac’s all-time leading scorer, scored 6:42 into overtime as the Indians defeated Lakeland/Panas 6-5 tonight in a sectional quarterfinal at Brewster Ice Arena.

Chris Mastrocola had three goals and two assists for the fourth seed, who will face No. 1 Mamaroneck tomorrow night at Hommocks in the semifinals. Robert Cafferey and Nicky Belger each had two goals and an assist for No. 12 Lakeland/Panas.

Down 4-2 to start the third period, Belger’s unassisted power play goal tied the game with 6:19 left, and Belger scored again just 10 seconds later to give the Rebels the lead.

Perrelle was in the penalty box during the comeback, serving an 11 1/2-minutes worth of penalties for boarding and misconduct. His unassisted goal in overtime came after a Lakeland/Panas defenseman threw the puck at his own net, and the senior pounced on the loose puck.

“Sitting there was horrible,” the senior said. “They’re one of those hard-working teams that kept coming at us. It was scary at that point, but we held strong and came up big. We didn’t want it to be the end of our season and we did all we could.”

The Rebels, a League 4 team with only one senior, outshot League 1 Mahopac 48-32.

“Lakeland took the play to us,” Indians coach Steve Tuite said. “I feel bad for them because they played extremely hard, and they really deserved it.”

Clarkstown North senior Matt Willows scored with 4:50 remaining in the first period to set a new state record for points in a season. but the Rams allowed six unanswered goals and lost 6-4 to White Plains in a Division I sectional quarterfinal at Brewster Ice Arena.

Willows had three goals and an assist to finish with 138 points. Byran Gitler of Scardale had the old mark of 134, set in the ‘03-’04 season. Willows also finished with 87 goals, breaking Gitler’s record for goals in a season by seven.

Steve McCarrick had a goal and four assists for the Tigers, who will face the winner of tonight’s Suffern-New Rochelle game on Friday.

Clarkstown North senior Matt Willows scored with 4:50 remaining in the first period to set a state record for points in a season. Willows, who finished the period with two goals and an assist, now has 137 points.

Byran Gitler of Scardale had the old mark of 134, set in the ‘03-’04 season.

Willows, who now has 86 goals, had already broken Gitler’s record for goals in a season (80).

Jake Shuman has three assists as Clarkstown North leads White Plains 3-0 after one period in the Division I quarterfinal.

I’ll be back later with more.

We had two more games go down to the third period on Tuesday night — Pawling was only up 2-1 and Somers/North Salem was tied 5-5, but both teams scored three unanswered goals in the third period to advance to the Division II quarterfinals. Matt Burdick had a goal and three assists and Mike DeLaVergne made 29 saves in the Tigers’ 5-1 win, while Joe Marasco had three goals and an assist as S/NS won 8-5.

Marasco had his first career postseason hat trick, but it was assist to Steve Aruilio early in the third-period that turned out to be the winner. Paul Moreau had two goals and an assist for the Pirates, who lost 9-0 at home to S/NS on Saturday night.

So here are your Thursday quarterfinal matchups:

No. 1 Rye vs. Pawling, 8 p.m. at Playland

No. 2 Pelham vs. Somers/North Salem, 7 p.m. at Ice Hutch

No. 3 John Jay vs. No. 6 Ossining, 8:45 p.m. at Brewster

No. 4 Brewster vs. No. 5 Yorktown, 6:45 p.m. at Brewster

I’ll have those predictions tomorrow. Some quick housecleaning — we’re going with the official scoresheets, so Matt Willows has 134 points, which ties him for the state record for points in a season (view the tying point here courtesy of his uncle, Tom Wolfe). John Orlando wanted to let everyone know that the price of sectional games is $7 (except for Sunday’s finals doubleheader, which will be $10 for both games. And I’ll be at Brewster for the doubleheaders on Wednesday and Thursday. I will have to cover the early game both times because of deadlines (North-White Plains and Brewster-Yorktown) though I’ll certainly be sticking around for the nightcaps. And Mamaroneck’s Adam Zweig is a candidate for this week’s Gameface.

And last but certainly not least, congratulations to Jim Tozzo on winning his 300th game in the first round. Using this site as a guide, there are only four active coaches in the state with 300 wins, and three work in Westchester (Tozzo, Ed Witz and Mike Chiapparelli). I believe McQuaid has 16 wins, which would give its coach 299 at the moment. Regardless, all you need to know about coach Tozzo is that when someone called in the game Monday night (I was off so I’m not sure which coach it was), they didn’t even mention this great accomplishment, so clearly he wanted the spotlight from a great playoff win to shine solely on his players.

Now, on to Wednesday’s quarterfinals:

No. 1 Mamaroneck vs. No. 8 North Rockland, 7 p.m. at Hommocks:  Like Clarkstown North, Mamaroneck’s prolific offense can sometimes overshadow an equally great defense. The Tigers have shut the door on everyone but Rye and White Plains. The Red Raiders should be commended for turning its season around after a midseason swoon, and North Rockland has some skilled players, but just not enough of them. Mamaroneck 6-1.

No. 2 Suffern vs. No. 10 New Rochelle, 7 p.m. at Sport-O: New Rochelle played an extremely defensive system on Monday, and of course Suffern plays that way every game. So who has the advantage? Suffern has home-ice, a lot of big game experience and are highly motivated after losing the league title in the final seconds in its last game. Though the Huguenots can play without pressure, which is always nice in the postseason, the Mounties have had more success over a longer period of time and have better players. Suffern 3-1.

No. 3 White Plains vs. No. 6 Clarkstown North, 6 p.m. at Brewster: Clarkstown North went into Ebersole and won 4-1 on Jan. 29, Matt Willows scored all four goals and Chris McIndoe made 32 saves (shots were even 33-33). Obviously things can change in a few weeks (see ETB-New Ro), but how much can White Plains do to stop Willows and beat McIndoe this time? And Jake Shuman has been scoring a lot since that TIgers game (18 goals), almost as much as Willows (22 goals). White Plains has one of the best second lines in the section, great defense and solid goaltending, and a good track record (wins over Suffern, Mamaroneck and Rye). They’ve also seen this game coming for months and had time to prepare, so an upset wouldn’t shock me — and yes, a top 5 team in the state losing would be considered an upset, regardless of how Section 1 chooses to seed its teams. But I think the Rams match up too well. Clarkstown North 5-3.

No. 4 Mahopac vs. No. 12 Lakeland/Panas, 8 p.m. at Brewster: This one was the toughest for me. Lakeland/Panas has now won 15 of 16 and have some incredible young talent. In fact, combined the teams have about four seniors that play. I’ll be the first to admit that I haven’t given enough publicity to L/P sophomore Robert Cafferey, who has scored at least twice in 10 of the Rebels last 11 games and now has 45 goals on the season. But I think Mahopac finally benefits from its League 1 schedule here. L/P’s non-league schedule was Yorktown, Newburgh twice and Mohanesen twice, while Mahopac has beaten Rye, White Plains, Pelham and Scarsdale. Mahopac 4-2.

Wednesday’s Division I quarterfinals are set:

No. 1 Mamaroneck vs. No. 8 North Rockland, 7 p.m. at Hommocks
No. 2 Suffern vs. No. 10 New Rochelle, 7 p.m. at Sport-O
No. 3 White Plains vs. No. 6 Clarkstown North, 6 p.m. at Brewster
No. 4 Mahopac vs. No. 12 Lakeland/Panas, 8 p.m. at Brewster

Here’s how we got there. Four of the five first-round games were within two goals entering the third period, so a lot of them could have gone either way.

Here were the two where the lower-seeded team won: Richie Prunesti scored his second third-period to goal to break a 3-3 tie and lift New Rochelle to a 4-3 win over No. 7 ETB. Danny Feliu made 35 saves in the win. Alex Hagen had a goal and two assists and Will Ruppel made 28 saves for the Eagles. … And Robert Caffrey scored five goals as Lakeland/Panas beat No. 5 RTH 7-2. The Titans actually had four more shots, but the Rebels scored seven times on 20 shots.

And three favorites made it through: Matt Willows had three goals and two assists, Jake Shuman had the other two and Chris McIndoe made 27 saves as Clarkstown North beat Sleepy Hollow/Irvington 5-0. The game was 1-0 until back-to-back short-handed goals by Willows and Shuman opened it up in the third period. … Sean O’Connor had two goals and an assist and Alex Nestle made 15 saves as North Rockland beat Scarsdale 4-1. … And Chris Mastrocola scored three times and Tyler Perrelle had three assists as Mahopac defeated Carmel 5-1.

There’s two games tonight. My colleague will be at Somers/North Salem-Pearl River at 8:15 at Brewster, while Byram Hills travels to Pawling at 7:30. I’ll be back Tuesday night with a recap of those games, plus predictions for Wednesday.

Farrell defeated Stepinac by one goal for the second straight night to win the CHSHL finals series 2-0 last night at the Ice Hutch. After beating the Crusaders 6-5 in overtime on Saturday, Farrell withstood a late score by Stepinac to win the clincher 2-1. More details can be found here. 

Here’s today Division I first round schedule. Please post your score updates and thoughts on each game below. I have to sit out these next few days so I’ll be interested to hear what everyone has to say.

No. 6 Clarkstown North vs. No. 11 Sleepy Hollow/Irvington at Palisades Ice Center, 4:30 p.m.
No. 5 Rye Town/Harrison vs. No. 12 Lakeland/Panas at Playland Ice Casino, 7:30 p.m.
No. 8 North Rockland vs. No. 9 Scarsdale at Sport-O-Rama, 7:40 p.m.
No. 4 Mahopac vs. No. 13 Carmel at Brewster Ice Arena, 8 p.m.
No. 7 Eastchester/Tuckahoe/Bronxville vs. No. 10 New Rochelle at Ice Hutch, 8 p.m.

Finally, here’s my Division II first round predictions:

No. 7 Somers/North Salem (15-9) vs. No. 10 Pearl River (10-11-1), 8:15 p.m. at Brewster

Everyone says the playoffs are a new season, and everyone starts 0-0. That may be true, but it’s hard to forget or ignore the fact that Somers/North Salem beat Pearl River 9-0 on Saturday night. That was the Pirates fourth loss in five games. And here’s an interesting stat — the Pirates have only beaten two playoff teams (Pawling and Carmel). Meanwhile, S/NS has wins over teams like Mahopac, Lakeland/Panas and New Rochelle. Somers/North Salem 6-1. 

No. 8 Pawling (15-5-2) vs. No. 9 Byram Hills (8-12), 7:30 p.m. at Trinity-Pawling

Pawling beat Byram Hills 7-3 and 6-4 this season. The Tigers are my darkhorse pick in Division II because of the Burdick/DeLaVergne combination and have won 4 of 5, while the Bobcats, who have lost 3 of 4, had the exact minimum number of points necessary to qualify for the postseason. Byram Hills can score but I think Pawling contains it. Pawling 5-3.

Here’s my predictions for Monday’s Division I matchups. Feel free to play along and add your thoughts.

No. 4 Mahopac (8-14-1) vs. No. 13 Carmel (9-10-1), 8 p.m. at Brewster

This will be a huge step up in competition for Carmel. The Rams are 2-9-1 against playoff teams, with wins against Byram Hills and Pearl River, and its only non-league game was against Brewster, which the Bears won 7-1. Still, it does have a dangerous goalie in Marc Glaviano (3.03 GAA, second among League 4 starters). The one common opponent also can give Carmel fans hope. The Indians lost to Somers/NS 6-2 in the first game of the season, and the Rams lost 3-0 on Jan. 12. Still, after a slow start Mahopac went 4-3-1 to end the season and will not be taking its big rival for granted. Mahopac 5-1.

No. 5. RTH (2-19-2) vs. Lakeland/Panas (19-5), 7:30 p.m. at Playland 

The Rebels have won 14 of 15 — in fact, their only losses over the last 22 games were to Sleepy Hollow/Irvington and Somers/North Salem. L/P hasn’t beaten a top-10 team, but neither has RTH — its wins were against Mount Pleasant and John Jay. Adam Urban is an electrifying player and the Titans showed life in the last two weeks, tying Mahopac and losing to E/T/B in the final seconds, but for the second straight year I think a League 4 team knocks off a League 1 team. Lakeland/Panas 5-4.

No. 6 Clarkstown North (22-1-1) vs. Sleepy Hollow/Irvington (16-3-2), 4:30 p.m. at Palisades

The Rams are the state’s fourth-ranked Division I team. While it’s easy to look at Matt Willows (131 points) and Jake Shuman (119), the defense has allowed more than three goals just three times this season. Legends players like Brad Pesce and Craig Halpin could play on any team in the section, while Dylan Lacey led League 4 starters in save percentage and GAA. Against any other team outside the big 2 (including White Plains, who it tied), I would like SHI chances. But I don’t see them beating North for the second straight year. Matt Willows gets the four points he needs to break the single-season points record of 134 and the Rams move on. Clarkstown North 7-5.

No. 7 E/T/B (12-5) vs. No. 10 New Rochelle (14-6-2), 8 p.m. at Ice Hutch

Led by a hat trick from Alex Hagen and 15 saves from Will Ruppel, ETB beat New Rochelle 7-1 at the Ice Hutch on Jan. 23. It was the fewest goals allowed this season by the Eagles, who have otherwise given up at least three a game. On the other hand, ETB has scored fewer than five goals just three times this season. New Rochelle is 2-1 against League 2, having beaten Scarsdale and Mount Pleasant, but the Huguenots are sliding (2-3-1 in their last six) while ETB has won five in a row. I think New Rochelle finds the net this time, but the end result is the same. E/T/B 7-4.

No. 8/9 North Rockland (14-6-2) vs. Scarsdale (12-9-2), 7:40 p.m. at Sport-O

Both previous matchups have gone into overtime, with Scarsdale winning 5-4 at the Ice Hutch and the game at Sport-O ending in a 3-3 tie. Scarsdale has lost five in a row and will be in trouble if Matt Oliverio and John Felix, who scored 61 of the team’s 76 goals entering the final game, aren’t back to 100 percent. North Rockland has also slown down after a fast start (5-4-2), but won at Brewster (who swept Scarsdale) when it needed to on Friday to get the home game. Plus with a strong defense led by Craig Meany and James Eberhardt — who held Matt Willows to one goal through five periods — I like it’s chances shutting down the Raiders. North Rockland 3-1.

Each day I’ll post a game-by-game breakdown with predictions (I’ll start tomorrow afternoon with the Division I first round). But first, here’s a quick overview of Division I and Division II.

Since I’m restricted in the amount of hours I can work in a certain time period, I will be off until Wednesday. But we will have someone at the CHSHL Finals at the Ice Hutch on Sunday, and then covering the first round Monday (probably North-SHI) and Tuesday (the Somers/NS game). I’m taking a long weekend and I’m not sure how much access I’ll have to the blog, but I’ll check in as often as possible. 

Division I

Favorite: Mamaroneck is riding a 19-game unbeaten streak, including wins over Suffern and defending state champion Massena on the road. It has the best depth and is strong in every area — offense, defense and goaltending.
Top challengers: Suffern and Clarkstown North are both ranked in the top 5 in the state. The Rams have the top two scorers in the section in Matt Willows and Jake Shuman, plus all-state goalie Chris McIndoe. The Mounties are the only team to beat North and have allowed just 31 goals in 23 games. White Plains is also tough —  the Tigers are the only team that beat both Mamaroneck and Suffern, and finished a strong third in League 1.
Best early game: League champions collide when Clarkstown North hosts League 4 champion Sleepy Hollow/Irvington. Despite being in League 4, the Legends defeated the Rams last year in the first round, and this year’s team tied White Plains at Ebersole. Willows also needs just four points to break the state record for points in a season (134).
Sleeper: No. 7 Eastchester/Tuckahoe/Bronxville is a scoring machine. The Eagles have scored at least five goals in 15 of their 17 games this season.
Upset special: No. 12 Lakeland/Panas over No. 5 Rye Town/Harrison. The Rebels have won 14 of their last 15 games, while the Titans haven’t won in over a month, albeit against a much tougher schedule.
Frozen Four: Mamaroneck, Suffern, Mahopac and Clarkstown North
Championship: Mamaroneck over Suffern

Division II
Favorite: Rye has won two straight sectional titles and has beaten its main small-school rival, Pelham, four straight times. After a slow start, the Garnets have won 8 of 10 and feature three solid forward lines, a strong defense and excellent goaltending.
Top challenger: Marc Flory, League 1’s leading goal scorer, top passer Andrew Emerson and tough-nosed center Mike Mamone form the division’s top forward line for Pelham, who beat Suffern and White Plains this year, something Rye couldn’t do.
Best early game: Brewster and Yorktown went to double-overtime last year in the quarterfinals, with the ‘Huskers winning by a goal for the third straight time. The first meeting this season was a tie before Brewster finally got a win in the rematch.
Sleeper: Pawling has League 3’s top goal scorer in Matt Burdick and perhaps the league’s top goaltender in Mike DeLaVergne. That’s a nice combination to have in the playoffs.
Upset special: No. 6 Ossining over No. 3 John Jay. Ossining, the League 3 champion, is undefeated against Division II — its only losses were to Mamaroneck and Sleepy Hollow/Irvington. John Jay has been toughened by a League 1 schedule, but it also lost to Pawling. 
Frozen Four: Rye, Pelham, Brewster, Ossining 
Championship: Pelham over Rye

Schedule

Division I first round (Monday)

First round (Monday)

No. 4 Mahopac vs. No. 13 Carmel, 8 p.m. at Brewster

No. 5 Rye Town/Harrison vs. Lakeland/Panas, 7:30 p.m. at Playland 

No. 6 Clarkstown North vs. Sleepy Hollow/Irvington, 4:30 p.m. at Palisades

No. 7 Eastchester/Tuckahoe/Bronxville vs. No. 10 New Rochelle, 8 p.m. at Ice Hutch

No. 8 North Rockland vs. No. 9 Scarsdale, 7:40 p.m. at Sport-O

Quarterfinals (Wednesday)

No. 1 Mamaroneck vs. North Rockland/Scarsdale winner, 7 p.m. at Hommocks

No. 2 Suffern vs. ETB/New Rochelle winner, 7 p.m. at Sport-O or Hommocks

No. 3 White Plains vs. Clarkstown North/SHI winner, 6 p.m. at Brewster

Mahopac/Carmel winner vs. RTH/Lakeland-Panas winner, TBA

Semifinals (Friday)

1/8/9 vs. 4/5/12/13 at higher seed

2/3/7/10 vs. 3/6/11 at higher seed

Final: Sunday, 4 p.m. at Tate Rink, West Point

Division II first round (Tuesday)

Top six seeds (Rye, Pelham, John Jay, Brewster, Yorktown, Ossining) get byes

No. 7 Somers/North Salem vs No. 10 Pearl River, 8:15 p.m. at Brewster

No. 8 Pawling vs. No. 9 Byram Hills, 7:30 p.m. at Trinity-Pawling

Second Round (Thursday)

No. 1 Rye vs. Pawling/Byram Hills winner, 8 p.m. at Playland

No. 2 Pelham vs. SNS/Pearl River winner, 7 p.m. at Ice Hutch

No. 3 John Jay vs. No. 6 Ossining, 8:45 p.m. at Brewster

No. 4 Brewster vs. No. 5 Yorktown, 6:45 p.m. at Brewster

Semifinals (Saturday)

1/8/9 vs. 4/5

2/3/7/10 vs. 3/6

Final: Sunday, 6:30 p.m. at Tate Rink, West Point